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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Some of you know about my love for moths and butterflies. I'm constantly awed by these remarkable creatures, and of course it would be nearly impossible to have any sort of garden without them. Well if I'm in love, then Swiss author and photographer Thomas Marent is obsessed - in a good way. And his gloriously gigantic new book, simply titled Butterfly, offers a (much) larger than life size look at these 'flying flowers.'

The more than 500 stunning photographs in Butterfly - all shot on location in natural habitats - offer an extraordinary portrait of some of the 165,000 species found in almost every region of the world, and visually document each stage of the life cycles of butterflies and moths in an incredibly detailed, close-up view of their world. This large hardcover is first and foremost a picture book (there's a slideshow of images here), but the minimal text offers tidbits of fascinating information. For example, of monarch butterflies, which I remember going to see migrate when I was growing up in Northern California, Marent says:

"The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) repopulates eastern North America every year after spreading north from Mexico. In fall, the entire population east of the Rocky Mountains returns south in a flight of over 1,800 miles, completed by a single generation. Guided by instinct, stopping only to sleep or refuel with nectar, their destination is a remote area of central Mexico, where hundreds of millions of monarchs gather in a few patches of highland fir forest. Here, the butterflies are safe from frost yet cool enough to spend most of the winter semi-dormant."

Luna Moths In The Garden, August 2006

We have all sorts of butterflies and moths here on the farm, and one of my favorites is the large luna moth. I was thrilled to come across this mating pair at the edge of the garden two years ago, and just yesterday I saw one perched on a beam in the sheep barn. According to Marnet, "female luna moths 'call' males in the night by extruding a scent gland at the tip of the abdomen. Males can detect the scent from a few miles away and react by flying doggedly upwind along the scent trail."

Butterfly would make a wonderful gift for anyone enamored with these little winged creatures, and thanks to the nice people at DK Publishing (the same company that published Bread, one of my favorite bread books, as well as all sorts of other beautiful publications), I have a brand new copy to give away.

Just leave a comment in this post between now and next Thursday telling me something - anything - about butterflies or moths: why you love them, what your favorite kind is, why you wrote about them on your own blog (leave a link to your post!), your best butterfly story or fondest memory, or simply why you want to win this book. I'll randomly pick a winner and announce it in a new post on Friday, May 16th. Sorry, but due to the weight of this enormous book it can only be shipped to a U.S. address.

83 comments:

I have always loved butterflies, since I was a kid. My fondest childhood memories of butterflies were the tiny orangish-brown cuties that would come to visit our butterfly bush every summer. I don't know their name, but they are so small and cute. I used to catch them sometimes (I know, that's bad!) to look at them up close.

Here's a picture of a pretty butterfly on my finger in Costa Rica. It had just hatched from its cocoon at a butterfly farm.

I spent 2 years in Texas as a wildlife biologist and had the very fortunate opportunity to go out with the entomologist to tag Monarchs. It was incredible! I have never seen so many on one branch before and the cool thing was that we got to find out how many actually made it down to Mexico based on the little numbered sticker we placed on their wings. I simply LOVE butterflies!!!!

1) When I was a child growing up in Hawaii there was a tree in the neighborhood, the only one of its kind, that was often covered in caterpillars. As a kid I didn't really care what kind of tree it was, but all the local children sure cared about the caterpillars. We'd show up with empty jars with holes in the lid, pick some leaves and a caterpillar or two (much to the delight of the tree's owner), and take them home to learn a little bit about wildlife biology. After a few weeks we'd turn loose a beautiful monarch butterfly.

2) As a child I was thoroughly convinced they were actually called callapitters because their little feet went "pitter, patter, pitter, patter".

3) My 21 month old daughter loves butterflies to the point that she points them out in every book we read to her. It is delightful that she is fostering her own love of these beautiful insects.

My grandmother has always had a beautiful tree in her yard that she calls the "butterfly bush" When I was a little girl, I would always smell the tree when it was in full bloom before I got out of the car. It would be surrounded by every type of butterfly (and bee) imaginable! As a young girl, I would borrow my mother's camera with a zoom feature and I would take pictures of the butterflies!Another memory - My parents were so great when I was growing up and they encouraged me to explore the natural environment around me. I found a cocoon one day and mom brough it inside and we kept it until it hatched, never touching of course. Then we took it outside and releasedt he beautiful butterfly. I was six years old. I remember crying when it flew away, but it wasn't really out of saddness - I distinctly remember crying out of the joy that nature can bring!

I love butterflies because they are simple beautiful. We have our share and each one makes me think of just how beautiful some of God's creatures really are! Don't know much about them, but would love to have this book and learn more.

I love butterflies but they sure make me feel dumb. I can't tell you how many times last year I was sneaking up on unsuspecting butterflies trying to get a decent picture of them. I never got a single picture. I always envy those blogs with the great butterfly pics.

Ooh! Ooh! I absolutely LOVE butterflies--my husband claims I'll bolt if I see one and run after it. I get so excited when I see one unrolling its proboscis to sip nectar. I spent a long time recently trying to photograph a "hummingbird" moth . . . fascinating! (I continue to love your blog(s), by the way--not sucking up, just sorta de-lurking!). I've posted several photos of butterflies on my blog (www.foziewisp.blogspot.com).

When I was little my dad used to collect monarch caterpillars so he could photograph the the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and emerging as a butterfly. One day he gave me a chrysalis in a film cassette that I could bring into my elementary school class. Unfortunately the butterfly emerged early in the cassette and its wings were permanently bent due to space restrictions. It was a very sad day for me (and the butterfly- we kept it around with bowls of sugar water). I think there was a grand lesson to be learned about not interfering with nature.

I remember in kindergarten when we were watching a chrysalis. Then, one day, it hatched. It was amazingly exciting and the butterfly was so beautiful. That will always be the highlight of my elementary school education.

I caught a monarch at a parade when I was a child, and I took it home carefully wrapped in a paper towel. When I got back to my grandmother's, it was dead, and I'm sure it couldn't have flied if it had lived. When I learned that the magic dust that came off its wings actually helped it to fly, I felt awful. But it was so beautiful.

As an Australian I'm not expecting to be counted in the giveaway but I did want to share how much we 4 family members (Hubbie, 2 kids & me) love the Butterfly houses in the Melbourne zoo and in the Sydney wildlife park. It's soupy and warm and fluttery and beautiful creatures from another dimension, another world maybe, land on your head, your arms, your shoe laces. It is quite magic. And we're big fans of silkworms in our kindergarden! Looks like a wonderful book.

Once staying down in the northern Ozarks on the Gasconade, at Rock Eddy Bluff, we had a luna moth come rest the day on the window screen. First time I'd ever seen one outside a postage stamp. It hung there all day. As the last bit of sun slipped below the horizon and my daughter and I sat on the porch swing trying to stave off another bout of croup, I watched it launch itself into the cooler night air and float float float away.

As a child growing up in a rural area in Michigan we had butterflies around us in the summer, we always did our best to enjoy them. We had a large garden that attracted moths. When you are little it is hard to notice the differences. Moth or butterfly both were admired.I enjoyed your pictures.

I love Monarch butterflies; there were a lot of them in the area I grew up. Butterflies are so graceful you just can't help but watch them and get excited whenever you see one. I've wanted to go to South America ever since I heard that they have butterflies with see through wings, although part of the reason I like butterflies so much is because of the colour of their wings.

I love both butterflies and moths. Moths are almost like little mammals, all furry and with such sturdy legs.

Our local zoo has one of those walk-through butterfly houses. We went in years ago and that's how we found out my son was terrified of butterflies! One landed on his shoulder and he smacked it - yeeks! We avoided the place for years, but he made it through this year, finally - they still make him nervous.

When our family moved to rural Oregon from small town Glennallen, Alaska, I immediately potted up some colorful flowers in large tubs to spruce up our new place. One early evening, we saw what we thought was a hummingbird hovering over the flowers, obviously sipping nectar. But - it couldn't be a hummingbird - something was just off. Sure enough, the closer we looked at this tame animal, the more we realized that instead of a beak it had a proboscis, and was a moth! When we looked it up on line, we found it to be a hummingbird moth. We have enjoyed this same type of moth each year since then, at least a few times per summer. It always thrills me to see insects, moths and butterflies be fed and nurtured by the flowers, herbs and water that we provide.

What is sad is that my friend, the butterfly expert, told me what it is and I misplaced the email in some computer disaster or another last year. I'm pretty sure it's on a DVD somewhere. But, you know, if I had a HUGE and GORGEOUS butterfly book I am sure I could figure it out.

When my daughter was 6 we visited the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus Ohio http://www.fpconservatory.org/ for their annual Blooms and Butterflies exhibit. We were thrilled we we actually had butterflies land on us. It is one of my favorite places to visit.

Thank you for the chance to win a butterfly book! I love to see butterflies flitting around my cat mint. This week I've been visiting my sister in SC, and one of our treks was to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. We so enjoyed walking the gardens and seeing butterflies hovering over the various flowers. What a majestic creation of our Lord.

One of my favorite things about butterflies is their ability to make you stop in your tracks. No matter how many I've seen, if I'm outside doing something and see a butterfly, I always pause--even if just for a moment--to watch it go about its day.

And one sound that always reminds me of summer is the soft "thud" of a moth against the screen door as it bounces around the porch light.

Butterflies and moths always make me think of the book "Girl of the Limberlost," a classic story about Elnora, a girl who lived in a swampy area in Wisconsin known as the Limberlost. She collected moths and butterflies. If you haven't read it, you really should. It's a book about environmentalism, before there was such a term. Oh, and maybe there's some romance in there too, which can't hurt, right? :-)

I am terrified of insects of all kinds. When I was little, we found a monarch butterfly cocoon and brought it indoors to watch the transformation. Unfortunately, as soon as it opened it's wings and took it's first flight it landed squarely on my chest. And I beat myself silly and screamed my head off, because of course, all insects bite. Now that I am an adult I love butterflies, convinced it was that experience that changed my view of all insects. I have a two year old daughter now, and when she was born I made dozens of Butterflies and hung them all over her ceiling. She simply adores them, and she is who I would like to have the book.

I grew up in a rural area and saw many insects on a daily basis - we were literally crawling with them! Where we lived was on the Monarch migration path, so we saw large 'clouds' of them come through and sometimes 'roost' in the chokecherry trees. One year when I was still quite a little girl, I discovered very early in the year, while it was still spring and quite cold in the mornings, a beautiful pearl-like object attached to the house's dryer vent. I kept watching it to every day, wondering what it was. One day when I came to check, it was changed - open on the bottom, empty. My Mom explained that a butterfly had been born, and it was now free to fly away. I never forgot that, since it was so magical to me!

Books! Here is a picture of a butterfly I found on the trail while picking blueberries: http://heatergirlie.blogspot.com/2008/05/color-week-blues.html. It must have been their time; they were everywhere. Finding butterflies is one of those quintessential growing up memories for me; I was so excited to find them and be able to hold them, but learning that this meant that they were dead was definitely hard to take...

I LOVE butterflies. I actually have a ring tha I wear that is a butterfly with it's wings made out of sapphires. I've loved them since I was a little girl. When my grandmother passed away I started to notice more and more butterflies just "popping" by all the time. I knew it was her, just telling me that she's thinking about me. I still smile every time a butterfly comes by.

Last year we planted moon flowers. Some evenings we noticed what we thought was a hummingbird visiting the newly opened blooms - but was actually a pink-spotted hawkmoth. Very cool. Fascinating pollinators.

I'm a photography nut, but often miss opportunities because I don't have a camera nearby. Every weekend during the spring and summer, I walk our yard and photograph my flowers, weeds, animals, etc. I have a nice picture from August 26, 2006 which includes a lovely butterfly hanging out in a field of clover.

I really love butterflies. So does my daughter. One of our favorite butterfly memories was one Easter morning. After raising them from caterpillars, our church used to do a butterfly release on Easter morning. It was a particularly cool morning and the butterflies weren't really going away. One landed on my daughter's chest and just stayed there for the longest time. She was mesmerized.

The colors are the most amazing things I've seen. And the patterns are the most amazing things I've seen. Oh, the whole thing is amazing!I think the saying, "Like a moth to a flame" is so descriptive that when I see a moth on a light, I always think of that saying.What a beautiful book!

Thank you for the book offer, it's great to read all of these stories. When I was little my dad owned a plant nursery, our yard was full of butterfly plants bottle brush especially was favorite. I'd read about them all the time and finally made a butterfly net out of cheese cloth and wire so I could see them up close. But I rarely saw Luna moths until I moved to a house on stilts in the middle of the woods. The house had many floor to ceiling windows which we didn't need to cover. In certain months the moth's would be attracted to or light and we'd have as many as five or six Lunas covering the windows until I'd turn off the light. They were so beautiful. Caterpillars have become a favorite now (except the ones in my little garden) and I recently tried raising a few I found on my snapdragons to see what they were. I missed the change but you can read about it on my blog on 4/26/2008.

One more small fact, I found out recently that Florida Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth feeds on dog fennel to obtain poison to spray around he and his mate to ensure they are not interrupted for nine hours. Okay I'll be quiet now.

Just the other night I saw something I had never seen before. Hubby and I were relaxing on the deck which is bordered on one edge by a wonderful lilac bush when out of nowhere appeared what I first took to be a hummingbird, visiting each blossom, sucking nectar. But wait, what sort of hummingbird is this, sporting such huge antennae??? This has to be an insect? Huge bumblebee? No. Whaever could it be? I followed him all around the bush, happily feasting his way until he flew off. I came into the computer and typed into a Google search box "insects that suck lilac nectar" and got the results for a Hummingbird Clearwing. I had never spied such a beauty before. This was the highlight of my week! So I would love to have a chance to win the book and learn more about these and all the beautiful butterflies I see during our all-too-short Pennsylvania summers! Thanks Susan!

Growing up on the farm I remember watching butterflies sail into our yard from across the fields. Now I try to capture any photos of these beautiful winged pieces of art that I can find in my little suburban garden:SwallowtailMonarch

Thank you for the opportunity to win this book! As a not quite teenage transplant to a new school, I spent most of the free play searching the wooden decks of the classrooms for moths-- somehow I found a knack in knowing exactly where they'd be. Searching them out is one of the best memories of that time (and I'm glad you helped me remember that today :))

I've recently become even more intrigued and fascinated with butterflies. I've always loved them and as a child used to run with a goldfish net to try to catch them. Charming, but highly unsuccessful.

Recently my friend Erin (who commented about her father's plant nursery) went to her father's place to go exploring. Erin took some amazing pictures of Black Swallow Tail caterpillars which we found a small colony of munching away in preparation for their metamorphosis. We also found tons of Wooly caterpillars (we think they were tiger moths) and pondered how to safely transport them home. Our adventure pack really needs a bug box.

I have wonderful childhood memories of following my brother through the neighborhood looking for butterflies and caterpillars. We would carefully capture a few caterpillers and watch the show. After hatching into butterflies, we would take pictures and let them go. What great times - hard to find these guys in a city setting now.Love your blogs.

I love butterflies so much I had one tattooed on my back. I did it on the anniversary of my mom's death. To me, it represents transformation and renewal. I'm planning another one this year. Haven't decided what kind. Maybe this book would help.

I grew up on a farm and we always had these little white butterflies all over the place. Whenever there was water on the driveway (like when we were washing the cows getting ready for the fair), they would always appear. With friends!

I also remember a trip with a friend up to Mackinac Island where they had a conservatory of butterflies. They were everywhere! All different kinds - very beautiful.

I couldn't wait for Spring to arrive this year. The longer Winter went, the crankier I got. Finally, one day, it was warm enough to venture out into the yard to search for those first adventurous flower shoots. And there they were! Daffodils, iris, and even lilac buds! As I walked along the side of my house, feeling better with each step, a gigantic monarch butterfly flew over my head and past me on the path. It was official - Spring had sprung, and my bad mood was lifted. Thank you, butterfly!

Hello! I am fairly new to your blogs, I ran across them when searching for a whole wheat beer bread recipe. (It was great by the way.) I've really enjoyed all the cute pics and new recipes to try. And now I am excited about the Book Butterfly.

When I was a kid, my gramma would give me her almost used camille beckman lotion containers. I would finish up the lotion and save the containers. When I saw a dead butterfly on the road or when camping, I would pick it up and save it in the old lotion containers.

When I left home for college, I had to go through all of my things and get rid of stuff I didn't need. I found those containers, stuffed away in an old cedar box and they brought back so many memories....

We get a lot of western tiger swallowtails around here and I've been fortunate enough to get some really great photos of them. I love that beautiful blue spot at their bottom end. I don't know what it is but butterflies to me are kind of peaceful. That sounds kind of wierd, I guess, but oh well.

We love Butterfiles at our house. My daughter can not get enough of them and I would love to win the book for her. The flower part of our garden is geared to attract butterflies. It's filled with Butterfly Bushes Milk Weed, etc.

What a cool butterfly book! I have always admired their beauty but only have recently begun to learn about them. We home school and will be getting a painted lady pupa in the mail soon. I can't wait! The kids are exited too.

This book looks really wonderful; I would love a chance to win it for my husband. He has studied butterflies since he was a little boy. We try and make our yard butterfly friendly by planting native plants and making sure we have both host and food plants for them. We live on the West coast so sadly have never seen a Luna such as in your beautiful pictures.

I would love to give this book to my daughter who is a real butterfly lover. Just came back from Key West where I visited the Butterfly Conservatory and got some beautiful treasures for her - also had some butterflies actually land on me! What fun!

I love butterflies. Last year I had the opportunity to plant a butterfly garden up close to the house. It was amazing to see the wide variety (some we had never seen before) that were attracted to the flowers. We sat out on our front portch and just watched them.

I always loved butterflies, how can you not. But I became very interested when I was a kid and my parents moved to land that they had purchased that butted up to the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. Behind our land is a wildlife sanctuary for Uncas Skipper. If you go to this site you can see it is the only place in Minnesota where you can find the Uncas Skipper http://www.nearctica.com/butter/plate28/Huncas.htm I now have a daughter and I can not wait to teach her all about the wonderful creatures that make up our world. And how important these creatures are. Butterflies are so important for pollinating the foods we eat- how wonderful that they help feed us and are so great to look at. This book would make a wonderful addition to our farm's library.http://duskwindfarm.blogspot.com

I'm hoping to be able to grow a butterfly garden. I'm not holding out much hope for its success but we'll see. Butterflies are so delicate looking and remind me of fairies (with their beautiful wings).

Seems like there is a lot of butterfly love out there! And how could there not be? Rather than a story, I'll give you a link. I draw but have never messed with colored pencils before. So I decided to try...this link is the first attempt. And what better subject than a butterfly! I present a Swallowtail!http://timesweareliving.blogspot.com/2007/03/one-completed-project.html

I remember when I was little seeing butterflies everywhere, the Monarchs sunning themselves on the rocks by a creek was a amazing site. Then as I got older it seemed they went away. But over the past several years again I see many in my garden with the Hummingbirds. It gives me hope.....

We went through a monarch butterfly obsession which I blogged about over the course of our "Monarch Summer." My outlook on learning was strengthened on the morning our monarch's emerged from their chrysalis...and we missed it. You can read all about that Monarch Summer, and the piece I wrote and shared with the Women's Luncheon, here:http://todayslessons.blogspot.com/search?q=monarch

I read about the huge night moths when I was a kid and my sister gave me "The Girl of the Limberlost". I wasn't sure the moths weren't just fiction until I actually saw one when I was in college. I saw a huge moth with orange wings and a turquoise body, and it was sitting in a pool of light outside a gas station in northeastern Missouri. It was absolutely surreal. I admit I have loads of books, but I would really love to have a book with moth photos.

My son (5) and I found a 1 cm long caterpillar on one of my fennel plants last summer and we kept it happy and growing fat in a big glass jar. By fall it had turned into a cocoon. It stayed like this for 7 months over our winter until a few weeks ago it finally emerged as a beautiful Anise Swallowtail butterfly. We kept it in the house for a few days until we finally set it free. As you can imagine my son and me found the whole process quite fascinating. Of course he is now seeing "his" butterfly every where.

The Butterfly House in Amsterdam (at the Hortus Botanicus) is simply amazing, with those huge black butterflies with 10" wingspans, among many others of course. But the one in Stockholm (Fjarilshuset) is pretty underwhelming, though they do have a nice koi pond. Just thought you might want to know, in case you're in either city anytime soon.

butterflies totally rock, don't they? i took this picture the day we were hiving a swarm of bees:http://lifeinthelostworld.blogspot.com/2008/03/wordless-wednesday_12.htmlplease throw my name in the hat for this awesome giveaway!good luck everyone!

Last summer we found an EASY way to attract butterflies--it brought far more, in a wider variety, and many many at one time, more than our buttfly garden ever has! Just now posting it athttp://www.easilyamusedhardtooffend.blogspot.com

That looks like a really nice book to read over and over again. There is no other place I'd rather be in June than right here in my own area of Mount Magazine,AR. Home to the International Butterfly Festival. I grow flowers and plants for the Butterflies,Bee's and Bird's.One of my favorite is the Diana Fritillary Butterfly. You would be amazed at the number of Butterflies you will see here in June. Here is a link to the site for more information.http://www.butterflyfestival.com/

My daughter and I have had great fun with our butterfly garden and are looking forward to expanding it this summer. If you haven't already read it, you should read Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" for some great references to luna moths!

I just started planting my garden last summer, but everything I've chosen has been a butterfly attractant. It's hard to say which one I love the most, the most common one we see around here are monarchs, they all hang out on my flowers, but I've never been quick enough (or is it prepared enough?) to get a picture. My daughter has inherited my love of butterflies - her room is bright purple with butterflies runing along the ceiling. Also purple. There's a forest preserve farm near us that has a butterfly house, and we are going to the release party this year. I can link yu to the Butterfly House if you'd like to see. In nay case, I'd love to have the Butterfly book. It would merge my love of books with my love of butterflies!

When my children were young and the neighborhood was mostly still woods and meadows, we would check the milkweed plants for the Monarch's chrysalis's and watch their development. They thought it was a sort of 'slow-acting magic' that a caterpillar would trun into a butterfly. I've loved anything butterfly ever since.

March 2013 update: My apologies for the inconvenience - I know word verification is a pain - but I've had to turn it on to help stop the ridiculous number of anonymous spam comments I've been getting every day. Thanks for your understanding.

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